Our Hearts Race
by icecreamapparition
Summary: Rin has a crush on her fellow art student who seems… impossible.  Modern AU


Summary:

Rin has a crush on her fellow art student who seems… impossible. Modern AU

* * *

><p><strong>Our Hearts Race<strong>

Written in Rin's PoV

His name is Sesshoumaru. The name itself can kill with perfection. We're both freshmen students here at Todai University's College of Fine Arts. We're in the same block, so we share all our major classes, which include all the art subjects we're required to take. Although he's hardly noticed me since day 1, my life started since he walked in front of me to head inside what turned out to be our classroom.

I know I sound and looked like I am still in high school, but I can't help it. I've quickly developed a major crush on Sesshoumaru. I'd very much love to say I'm falling for him every passing school day. Unfortunately, I haven't had my chance to talk to him yet, even to greet him _hi_. So another step in exaggerating my feelings would label me crazy.

I just sit in a corner, to which I had to force my friends to sit with me so I'm not embarrassingly alone and I had to explain to them that the seats at the back have much better _view_. And then he sits on the other corner, along with his cool friends who looked like they're older and more knowledgeable for our batch. I assume they are transferees.

Unknown to them, I just want a comfortable place where I can watch him from afar without being too obvious.

Just like today. We're in our Figure Drawing class and I'm leaning in my drawing table and watching him in between sketching and focusing on the naked model posing in front of us. At first, I was really nervous that we're having a stunningly gorgeous female for our model, even more so when his friend, that guy named Miroku, gave off a disturbingly perverted smirk. But obviously, Sesshoumaru was not one to be affected by such display. He acted like a professional who only focuses on his work of art and it eased my worries a little. I stole another quick glance at him and my heart fluttered a little at seeing him knit his eyebrows in concentration.

Today, he's wearing one of his odd shirts. It looked like a freebie from a known brand of paint, but it looks painfully good once it's on his well-defined body, even if the shirt is kind of loose for my tastes. His pants are faded khakis and his shoes are of the expensive kind, the only sign that he's not as poor as his shirt made him look like. Only a real artist can pull off something like that. As he moves, more of his long, eye-catching hair fell on his slanted desk, coming into contact with the charcoal on his paper, and he pulled a plain black rubber from his pocket to tie it messily. He looked like one of those intimidating guys from a band who still manages to appear elegant despite their carefree style.

Clearly, I am not obsessed, am I?

* * *

><p>The professor announced the end of class. Thankfully, I have managed to create a decent sketch to act as my guide despite my tendency to get distracted. By him, specifically. My classmates begged the model to stay still for another five minutes for some final touches and she kindly obliged before finally stretching her long, beautiful legs and draping a delicate fabric to cover her exposed body.<p>

As my classmates started getting noisier with all the people shuffling inside the room, I heard him talking to one of his friends. I tried not to listen, but I'm hearing words against my will. More importantly, his voice made me freeze, even if his sentences are not addressed to me. That's how I found out that he's taking Philosophical Science for his next period. Probably his last class for the day. It's very likely of him to take a minor subject such as that and very likely of me to have a class that's unfortunately far from his' building.

What are the chances that I'll see him again for the rest of the day? Um, none, definitely. I'll just have to move on and be excited to see him again the next day.

My close friend, Kagome, lightly tapped my shoulder and smiled at me. This signalled that 'moving on' and we went our way towards the restroom nearby to do a quick freshen up, but not before I took a quick glance at him again before we leave.

"Say, Rin, don't you think you're being an 'open book' these days?" Kagome started while touching up her face with powder.

I stopped what I was doing and sighed. "That bad, huh? I'm sorry, it just feels like my day's incomplete if I don't get to look at him." I replied guiltily.

Kagome's the "miss friendly" at school, so it'd be pointless to make her understand how I feel since she literally talks to everyone. She's not that pretty, or smart, and not that cool either, but she has this charm that makes way for everyone to pay attention when she talks. I guess that means she's cool, after all, because she manages to talk to "the boys", also known as Sesshoumaru's group, without appearing like a trying-hard. The bottom line is, any idea from her won't make me feel better.

"I'll tell you what," she started again, "I have this notebook from Sesshoumaru which he lend to me this morning. We share a class outside Fine Arts, so he allowed me to copy his notes to make up for my absence last meeting. This means I'm not allowed to take this home because he uses it, as well, so…"

"…you're going to let me tag along once you return it?" I finished for her.

"Exactly!" Kagome clapped her hands like it's the most brilliant idea when, in fact, it's the cheesiest. "I'm not done with it yet, so I told him I'll meet him in his building, which I bet you already know where, to deliver it and he agreed, saying there's 'no problem at all'!"

"Kagome… isn't that a little… obvious? You already said I'm an open book. What more if I accompanied you in returning an innocent notebook?"

Kagome waved her hands like it's nothing. "Girl, don't be such a paranoid. I could tell him we have the same class, which we really do, if he asks. That reminds us that we have a class to attend to, right about now!"

All she heard from me is a quiet "whatever", but deep inside, I'm screaming "Sesshoumaru!" like a little girl.

* * *

><p>Class ended a few minutes early, for that I am thankful. For each passing second I am panicking and showing signs of a person about to freak out. I decided to walk towards his building instead of riding the transportation inside our school in hopes of calming my nerves – by means of collecting my thoughts, alone, and in silence, or maybe by means of working my feet to exhaustion until I forget my purpose. Apparently, none of those worked and I am now standing in the middle of the road leading to his building. Light droplets of water are falling on my worried face, but it didn't stir me from where I stood. I continue to stare at the building like it's going to eat me the moment I set my foot on it.<p>

And it's all thanks to Kagome!

In the middle of our class, I saw her discreetly typing on her cellphone. As it turns out, her mother is stuck in an important meeting in an office an hour away from her brother's school and she couldn't attend the parent-teacher meeting this late afternoon. Her mother, knowing that her classes are almost over, and Kagome, being half an hour away from her brother's high school, went to grab the opportunity to beg her to come for her sake instead.

That leaves Kagome saying a blurred set of apologies to me in a sorry whisper and hurriedly leaving as soon as our class ended. "I'm really sorry; I'll make it up to you. Just be confident and hand him this for me, please?" Like I have a choice. "Think of it as your chance." Yeah it is. "I know you want this." I really do, and if I didn't like him, I'd be willing to hand it to him, but the fact is I like him and I have never ever talked to him. I can't just meet him all of a sudden and hand him a possession of his like a weirdo.

Sadly, that's what's gonna happen anyway, and at the moment, I am already forcing my heavy feet to take me inside the dreaded building. Nevermind the downpour, although at the back of my mind I am noting that the rain is indeed alarmingly heavy.

What do I do now? Should I go for the run? Leave his notebook in front of his classroom door and just leave a note signed _from Kagome_?

Maybe I could pretend that I have a late class here and then stay for a few minutes until he leaves so it's not obvious that I'm lying. If he caught me, maybe I could tell him the class was cancelled?

Ah, what am I plotting? It's not like I'm doing anything wrong. This is completely crazy, all for a guy's sake!

"Oy, miss, come inside quick. You're going to get wet!" The security guard of the building shouted towards me.

"HAI!" I shouted back.

As I made a dash towards the roof-covered open space serving as the entrance to the building, I bent slightly to place my hands on my knees and catch my breath. Thankfully, my shoes are not yet soaked to the point of leaving a wet trail on the floor. "I am saved…" I breathed. But it was short-lived because I felt a warning shiver running down my spine, and as I turned my head towards my right by instinct, I saw the very man who is unaware we're supposed to meet. He is currently walking down the stairs in all his composed glory and here I am… panting in misery!

For the very first time, I saw him looking at me, which made sense because I'm standing exactly in front of the stairs. "Brain, Rin, don't forget to let your brain function!" I told myself. Now is the perfect moment to get this over with!

As he finished descending the last of the steps, he paused and just stared at me with his warm eyes. Not only are they a pair of golden yellow, they seem to be emitting this strange heat, as well. All of a sudden, the chill from the rain means nothing and I had to tell myself to move or speak or do anything unless I want him to burn me, unmoving, on where I stood.

"Uh… h-h-hi."

Oh, kami, I can't even say _hi_ properly and keep eye contact!

In between looking for his eyes and giving my attention to the floor, I managed to stutter, "I'm a friend of Kagome's. We're classmates. The, her… class before, I mean. Eto… She had this emergency, um, w-with his brother's high school, s-so she asked me if I could deliver this… for you." I ungracefully opened my bag and retrieved his thick notebook. I stretched out my hand to give it to him and when I looked at it, I had to squeeze my eyes shut. I am shaking!

Now he knows I like him, for sure! Who acts like this when returning a notebook?

When I finally managed to slowly open my eyes, he was just staring at my hand. He then turns his head towards the sky which is now a dark shade of gray with the occasional thunder, all the while his own hands were just casually hidden inside his pockets.

"You got wet on your way here." He stated a-matter-of-factly.

"It's n-no big deal…" I whispered to my best friend floor in fear. Of what, I don't know exactly.

I decided to risk another glance at him. He is back to staring at me. Odd, just looking and not saying anything. I find his silence admirable and frightening at the same time. It's multiplying the butterflies in my stomach and giving me unhelpful paranoia. For the nth time, I felt embarrassed standing here, sweating and with slightly damped hair and plain clothes. I don't even look close to that Kikyo girl that hangs out with their group. She's smart, appealing, and rumor is that Fine Arts is already her second degree and she's already starting her own career. She's not a bad person, she looks nice actually, but I feel small whenever I compare myself to her. I'm not the kind of girl you'd see around an intimidating group like Sesshoumaru's.

On my peripheral vision, I see the guard watching us with amusement. He's likely laughing at my blush and wondering why we're having a staring contest.

After a long stretch of silence, Sesshoumaru spoke, finally, "we should just wait here until the rain stops."

He didn't wait for my answer. He silently sits on the dry floor near the plain white wall. I followed suit, thinking that it's a silent invitation. Also because it'd be awkward to sit on the vacant plastic chair beside the guard when the person I'm with is leisurely sitting on the floor. He'll think I'm a high-maintenance-kind-of-girl, which I know I'm not. But then, I'm sure, he'll get another signal that it means I like him.

Aaaa, Rin, stop overly thinking already! Come what may!

He plugs in his earphones and I continue making friends with the great floor. When I'm sure he's too preoccupied with his music, I looked at his side profile. Must cherish the moment when I can look at him real close-up for the first time.

He turns his head without warning and it made me jump at being caught. "Don't you have anything to occupy you?"

Before I can figure if it's meant to be rude or just a simple question, I answered, "uhhh, not really, I forgot to bring my earphones and I don't have a novel or something." This is me; I'm not making any sense again when it comes to him, "and… I, uhh, I prefer doing my schoolwork at home. You see it's more… I..."

He cut me off by saying "here," and then handing me one of his earplugs, "we can listen to music together. It passes time."

Awww… This has to be a dream!

I nervously reached for it, my fingers lightly brushing his. After that, it's just his music and the two of us watching the rain in companionable silence. He has good tastes and in result, I slowly started to relax beside him. Thankfully, the guard didn't disturb us or scold us for sitting on the floor because there's no more students in the area and the next set of classes are already starting.

After what felt like eternity, the music stopped, so I moved to face him. I was under the impression that he's about to pull it away now when he suddenly looked like he was searching for a song. My hunch was proven correct when he pressed the play button and changed his sitting position, his elbows leaning on his now-raised knees, and went back to staring at nothingness peacefully.

And then I heard the opening music. I know the song and it melt my heart every time. The corners of my mouth rose to express a tiny smile and I continued again to watching the heavy raindrops falling on the cemented road and the plants being swayed by the strong winds outside.

Breathe in for luck.  
>Breathe in so deep.<br>This air is blessed, you share with me.  
>This night is wild, so calm and dull.<br>These hearts, they race, from self-control.  
>Your legs are smooth, as they graze mine.<br>We're doing fine.  
>We're doing nothing at all.<p>

My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me.  
>So won't you kill me?<br>So I die happy.  
>My heart is yours to fill or burst,<br>to break or bury, or wear as jewelry.  
>Whichever you prefer…<em><br>_  
>Hands down this is the best day I can ever remember.<br>Always remember the sound of the stereo.  
>The dim of the soft lights.<br>The scent of your hair, that you twirled in your fingers.  
>And the time on the clock, when we realized "It's so late!"<br>And this walk that we share together.  
>The streets were wet, and the gate was locked,<br>So I jumped it, and let you in.  
>And you stood at your door, with your hands on my waist.<br>And you kissed me like you meant it.  
>And I knew...that you meant it.<p>

When the song was about to come to an end, I realize I was fully smiling. I'd never been this happy. And it's all because I'm stuck in a building with my crush, Sesshoumaru, and we're watching the rain, side by side. I searched his face once again and became speechless when I realize he's watching me back, and he's smiling!

I blush an impossible shade of red. Is there something on my face? That's what I'm about to ask when he beat me to talking, "The rain's gone." He said.

It is? When did that happen?

That's why he's smiling. He must be looking forward to getting rid of me.

As we both went to stand up, his notebook fell from my lap. If not for the soft thud, we won't even realize that I've been clutching to it the whole time.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said with my tongue working properly, at last. "Here's your notebook. Kagome said 'thanks'".

He fully opened his shoulder bag and I voluntarily moved closer to help him place it inside, but what peeked from it made me gasp.

"You… have an umbrella?"

He didn't look at me when he answered, "...yeah."

"….why…" I didn't exactly know what to say. He took advantage of that to change the subject to, if I may add, something that took me again by surprise.

"Thanks for returning my notes to me, Rin." I never told him my name! He knew all along? "We're classmates in Photography, too, right?" That would be our class for tomorrow.

"Hai!" I answered enthusiastically and his face softened up a bit. Suddenly, I feel like I'm not a nobody, after all. My heart started beating faster. I have to report all of this to Kagome and thank her!

"Well… I'm going this way" he points to the opposite direction of where I'm supposed to get a ride and my face fell. He then adds "I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Take care on your way home, Rin." before walking off in said direction.

He mentioned my name twice. It didn't sound like his normal uncaring voice when talking to our classmates!

I was completely rooted to the ground. After what seemed like another round of eternity while staring at the road where he disappeared, I let out a not-so-suppressed girly squeal and jumped a little with my heavy bag being hugged to death, "He has an umbrella, he has an umbrella, he stayed with me still! I'm so happyyyy!"

On a small table not so far from me, the ever-witness security guard is silently chuckling.

* * *

><p>To those who read my ongoing fics, please don't kill meeeee. This is just a one-shot, inspired by a (former) crush from a distant past, with the intention of motivating myself to go back to writing. X3<p>

Disclaimer:

I neither own the rights to the characters of **Inuyasha** by **Rumiko Takahashi **nor do I own the song **Hands Down** by **Dashboard Confessional**. The only right I have is to sit in one corner and type things that would make you think I'm a giant CHEESE ball in real life.

Oh, and I borrowed **Todai**, as well. For the sake of putting a name to a university.

That's it. I hope you enjoyed reading! :)


End file.
